The variations in the number and size of glomeruli have been linked to several renal and systemic diseases. Although approaches such as acid maceration and the dissector/fractionator stereology technique have been used to measure the glomeruli number and size, they require the destruction of the entire kidney. On the other hand, conventional histological methods determine the overall glomeruli statistics by extrapolating the measurements obtained from a few isolated sections. As a result, these methods do not perform direct measurements and cannot localize the identified glomeruli to specific parts of the kidney. Hence, a robust technique was recently developed, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to non-destructively measure the glomerular number. This method accurately identifies the glomerulus by injecting a contrast agent, cationic ferritin (CF), which causes a decrease in the MRI signal at the location of the glomerulus. It was demonstrated that the glomerular counts obtained from the MRI images were consistent with the standard histological procedures, while making the measurements in the entire kidney.
An efficient computational method that can automatically obtain the glomerular count from the kidney MRI image slices would be beneficial to make this technology viable for clinical use. Although, existing image segmentation methods can be used, due to the characteristics of these images, a more sophisticated procedure would be beneficial.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures herein illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms “include,” and “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus.
The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.
The terms “couple,” “coupled,” “couples,” “coupling,” and the like should be broadly understood and refer to connecting two or more elements or signals, electrically, mechanically or otherwise. Two or more electrical elements may be electrically coupled, but not mechanically or otherwise coupled; two or more mechanical elements may be mechanically coupled, but not electrically or otherwise coupled; two or more electrical elements may be mechanically coupled, but not electrically or otherwise coupled. Coupling (whether mechanical, electrical, or otherwise) may be for any length of time, e.g., permanent or semi-permanent or only for an instant.
“Electrical coupling” and the like should be broadly understood and include coupling involving any electrical signal, whether a power signal, a data signal, and/or other types or combinations of electrical signals. “Mechanical coupling” and the like should be broadly understood and include mechanical coupling of all types. The absence of the word “removably,” “removable,” and the like near the word “coupled,” and the like does not mean that the coupling, etc. in question is or is not removable.